2022 wedding trends - my top 8 predictions
While I wrap up my last few weddings of this season, I’m already busy beavering away with planning for next year’s weddings.
Every year a new set of wedding trends emerge and as a wedding stylist it’s my job to have a keen eye on the emerging themes and new innovative ideas. Not because I believe it’s important to have an ‘on trend’ wedding - that’s not the Wonderlands ethos at all… Quite the opposite actually! We’re all about helping couples to create their own unique, bespoke and carefully crafted celebration.
But, by keeping ahead of the trends I keep my ideas fresh and creativity flowing and have an ever-increasing treasure trove of ideas and inspiration, which all flow into the bespoke wedding plans I create for my clients.
If you’re planning your upcoming wedding, I hope this article will give you some new bursts of inspiration and inject some fresh thinking into your planning.
OK, so, what are my 2022 wedding predictions? Here’s my inside info for you all!
Creating Backyard Wonderlands
Covid has unsurprisingly played a part in shaping recent trends as we have adapted to constraints and new ways of living. One big way we’ve seen this is with lots of people opting for back garden weddings.
Lots of couples are choosing their childhood homes as the setting and having smaller weddings than they might have planned previously. This seems set to continue into next year as couples still navigate constraints and safety considerations while planning their celebrations.
The skill with designing garden/home weddings is in transforming an everyday environment into a magical and captivating setting, worthy of your wedding! Working with a wedding stylist can help you to metamorphosize your back garden into a temporary escape and adventure, transporting you away from the everyday and mundane.
We’re seeing a real step-up in ‘at home’ weddings with couples choosing to go all out with stunning decor and sumptuous catering so they can celebrate their marriage safely, but without sacrificing any of the magic.
Inside Out Weddings
It’s also predicted that ‘inside-out weddings’, which flow from the house into the garden, will be popular, allowing couples to ventilate spaces well and ensure safety for their guests. The décor used will transition from the interior to outside, creating a whimsical, playful wedding experience.
Think tents, marquees, patios, backyards and barn settings that flow from the house—or venue—into a garden or backyard, with dancefloors and mingling areas that spill out of marquees and tipis onto rug-carpeted ground or terraces.
Multi Sensory Experiences
After the stresses of the past 18 months it’s not surprising that people are seeking some escapism. For this reason I think lots of next year’s weddings will focus on escapism, including an array of immersive, whimsical and romantic details. As many couples can’t plan the destination weddings they might want to, a fun and exciting trend is the reverse destination wedding. If you can’t get to Scicily, why not bring Sicily to you….
We’re seeing lots of couples creating their magical wedding day wherever and however they can — be it in their backyard, on a beach or at a small restaurant.
One of the most interesting and exciting aspects of this trend is that it relies heavily on creating a sensory experience with immersive and tactile decor that appeals to our senses and transports us to something very imaginative, allowing couples to give their guests a genuinely unforgettable experience.
My passion and skill lies in creating magical immersive environments so I’m delighted to be working on more weddings like this! For some examples of themed and immersive events I’ve created, see here.
Sustainability
This is not a ‘trend’ at all (and should not be considered as one), but a crucial and vital sea-change in thinking. As I wrote about in my last blog, I'm seeing more and more couples are prioritising sustainability as part of their core wedding design, which is amazing to see. And I’m happy to say I can only see this movement growing!
I think we’ll see even more couples putting sustainability and supporting small businesses at the centre of their wedding planning.
Reusable design items that guests can take home, such as potted plants, will be popular in 2022, especially air purifying plants such as maidenhair ferns, peace lilies, orchids and fig trees.
Dried foliage and flowers, such as pampas grasses, dried poppies, bunny tails and nigella pods, will also be popular, for their longevity and reusability.
Showing love and respect for our magnificent planet runs through everything I do at Wonderlands so I really love working on eco-conscious weddings! Lots of my work is inspired by a love of nature. And it’s wonderful to see this appreciation for our wonderful planet is resonating with more and more people. Lots of people have spent more time outside because of the pandemic, and through this they have found a greater appreciation of nature, which is feeding into a greater awareness.
I compiled lots of my advice and ideas on how to make your wedding more sustainable without sacrificing your style, pzazz and fun factor in this blog here.
Earthy, nature-Inspired colour palettes
OK, since choosing your colour palette is probably the most defining decision you’ll make throughout the whole design process, let’s talk colours….
As more and more couples are committed to focusing on themselves and their inner spirit and less on what everyone else is doing, I think we’ll see a wide variety of wedding hues next year. But having said that, I do think we’ll continue to see lots more of the earthy, nature inspired tones that have been having a centre-stage moment recently.
Personally, I’m delighted because I absolutely love working with these colour palettes! And if you love this look as much as I do, you’ll be pleased to know the boho wedding vibe isn’t going anywhere, and you’ll be seeing lots more earthy tones in 2022 weddings.
Think sandy tones with warm earthy colors like burnt sienna and marigold yellow. For Summer 2022 weddings we’ll see a lot of sunflower yellows and honeyed tones, while autumn works beautifully for more earthy rust and amber tones.
For decor ideas to go with this look, think about complementing these tones with earthy textures and materials like terracotta or ceramic pots, dried grasses and linen napkins.
Florists predict nude palettes to be big in 2022, as they go well with these earthy tones. A nude floral palette which includes soft pinks mixed in with coffees, caramels and silky ivories is a sophisticated and elegant move away from the more traditional pastel pinks and whites.
Bright, Bold Splashes
Earthy tones aren’t the only trending colour palette. With lots of couples more freely expressing themselves and wanting their wedding to really reflect them, we’re seeing moves away from traditional styles and towards more unique creative expression. Which I’m 100% here for!
Many couples that previously might have had a more traditional white wedding are deciding it needs to feel more like 'them' and are injecting their favourite colours into the palette.
Trend forecasters predict some of the top colours for spring and summer 2022 to be vibrant pink-purple Orchid, earthy green Olive Oil, creamy yellow Butter, tropical Mango Sorbet and ocean-like Atlantic Blue.
Vintage Metallics
The trend for moody metallics in weddings came along with the trend for vintage furniture, as the two go so well together. And we’ll see lots more of both next year.
We’ll be seeing more smokey grays, romantic reds and midnight blacks, being paired with antique brass and patina mirrored finishes, making for a dramatic look.
From dresses with vintage metallic details to copper or gold details on the table decor, we’ll see lots of elegant and sparkling details in 2022 wedding design.
Greenery
We’ll also see lots of greenery, as wedding greenery is another decor trend set to continue. However, I think we’ll see new creative uses of this earthy floral element such as aisle meadows and greenery draped staircases. An aisle meadow is when each side of the aisle is lined with blooms and greenery to make it have the feel of a field or meadow. How magical could that be!?